Police say 'medical condition' caused driver to crash school bus

No kids onboard; 77-year-old had 'perfect record'

January 31, 2013|By Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune reporter

A school bus struck eight vehicles along Oakton Street near the Niles and Park Ridge border after the driver suffered an unidentified medical issue on Jan. 29. (Chicago Tribune illistration from Googlemaps)

The school bus driver who left a trail of destruction along Oakton Street in Niles and Park Ridge on Tuesday had a "perfect driving record" and no previously reported medical conditions, licensing officials said Wednesday.

But Park Ridge police said Elaine Delaney, 77, of Wheeling, suffered an unspecified "medical condition" before losing control of an empty school bus, sending it careening into oncoming traffic minutes before it was scheduled to pick up several dozen children from a nearby school.

Authorities arriving on the scene about 2:30 p.m. found a swath of damage stretching roughly 1.3 miles west down Oakton from Oriole to Greenwood avenues on the Niles and Park Ridge border.

"That's fairly remarkable, considering what could have happened," Jogmen said.

Police cited Delaney for several traffic violations — including driving in the wrong lane, disobeying a traffic control signal and driving too fast for conditions. If convicted of the citations, Delaney could lose her school bus permit for three years and her license for a year, said Terry Montalbano of the Secretary of State's office.

At the time of the crashes, Delaney was driving a 71-passenger school bus owned by Septran Inc., said company president Bob Hach. She was scheduled to pick up students at Gemini Junior High School, about a mile from where her bus finally came to rest.

David Bein, executive director of business services for East Maine School District 63, said Delaney's bus would normally have been waiting at the school when children are dismissed at 2:28 p.m.

"It certainly is scary knowing had it been 15 minutes (or) a half-hour later, there could have been children involved," Bein said.

Delaney, a bus driver for more than 15 years, had an excellent work record, Hach said. Secretary of State officials said she was due to renew her bus permit Thursday and had no accidents or tickets on her record.

Most Illinois school bus drivers have to get both a commercial driver's license and an Illinois school bus permit, Montalbano said, a process that includes a yearly exam by a physician and questions about whether any medical conditions would affect driving ability.

But, he added, the doctor isn't legally required to disclose a medical condition, and the state does not restrict a person's driving because of age. Citing discrimination laws, Hahn said his company also does not use age-related prohibitions but relies on licensing requirements.

The chain of accidents began at Oriole Avenue and Oakton Street and/ ended at Greenwood Avenue, where the bus collided head-on with a taxicab turning east onto Oakton, Jogmen said.

Jacek Orzech, 49, who lives nearby, said he was relieved there were no children outside. His daughter is a sixth-grader at nearby Emerson and walked home minutes later.

"I hope nobody is hurt. That's the most important thing," Orzech said. "Everything else is why we have insurance."